


Daylight

by Baconfat



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Extra Verse, Gen, Ignis may have been a bit of a dick during the Ten Years of Darkness, Ignis may have done some shady shit during the Ten Years of Darkness, M/M, Mention of past unrequited Gladio/Ignis, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 14:54:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16578644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baconfat/pseuds/Baconfat
Summary: "It sucks we can't just stick together like we used to," Prompto said.Noct shrugged. "It's fine. I know you have stuff to do. I'm... kinda surprised Ignis doesn't havemorestuff to do, actually. Like, did he have a job?"Prompto laughed a little. "Ohh yeah, full-time, 24/7, Preparing for the Return of the True King. No sick days, no vacation time."





	Daylight

**Author's Note:**

> Belongs to the timeline in [this collection](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ExtraVerseSB).

After breakfast, Noct went down to the river to fish. Ignis didn't want to come; he had some sewing and cleaning to do but told Noct to catch something good for supper. Prompto came along though. Knew enough not to talk while he was casting, but as soon as Noct had his line in the water Prompto sat down next to him on the old dock and pulled out his camera to start showing off some photos.

"Oh, oh, and here we are in Lestallum," Prompto was saying, clicking through. "After they got the first grow-lights up and running, and people were getting settled in to the new groove, they had a festival! Holly really made a fuss about how much we all helped out."

It was a good picture. Cindy had one arm around Holly and the other around Prompto, his grin so bright it could probably ward off the daemons. Next to them, Gladio was smirking at the camera, a hand heavy on Ignis's shoulder. And Ignis — ...Ignis had summoned up a smile, sort of, but he looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. 

"Oh, and here's a good one — we climbed up past Callatein's Plunge, there's this huuuuge glacial lake up there and some ruins. The view woulda been amazing if there'd just been a bit more light."

Noct took a look, and started laughing.

"What?" Prompto asked. "Is it my face? Am I making a weird face?"

"Are you ever not?" Noct laughed, elbowing him. "It's nothing, just." Prompto and Gladio looked exhausted but proud as hell. "Ignis looks ready to murder someone."

"Oh," Prompto laughed, weakly. "Yeah. And here —"

He moved on to more group shots, places they'd been and people they'd met, all over the world. Every place felt sort of familiar, like maybe Noct had dreamed about it. And it seemed like every shot had a — like, a space in it, as if there was another person there who'd been edited out. And Ignis always looked some degree of exhausted and murderous. "What's — how come Ignis's gloves are always... glowing?"

Prompto blinked, looking closer, and snorted. "Oh, that'd be his daggers. I kept telling him to put them away for the photos but he kept summoning them. I called him on it once and he was all like, 'Apologies, merely a nervous habit,' and I was like shyeah, you're making eeeeveryone else nervous with your habit."

 _A great comfort to me_ , he'd said, when they were sitting in the dark. "Oh."

Prompto clicked through a few more photos without saying anything, his mood gone all quiet and weird. "Sorry I was gone so long, buddy. This thing came up and Cindy needed me to scavenge some parts way out in the Weaverwilds and then when I got back I had a hard time getting a hold of you guys."

Noct blinked. "Yeah. Cell phone reception's not what it used to be."

Prompto nodded. "Anyway. Sorry."

"Uh, sure?" Noct tried. "It was just a few days. I caught a trout the size of Gladio's arm."

"Pssh, suuure you did, buddy."

"Shut up," Noct laughed.

"I'm just. You know. Sorry to leave you alone with Ignis."

"Huh?" Noct asked. "It's... fine, I mean. I got used to it when I was like, six."

Prompto looked closely at him, like he thought Noct was faking. Faking what? "Sure, but that was, like. Iggy. Old Iggy. Fun Iggy."

Noct started laughing. "When was he _ever_ fun?"

Prompto grinned, glancing down at his camera. "Oh, uh, y'know. Before you disappeared into the crystal and the world went to hell?" He glanced at Noct, a little worried. "He doesn't seem... different to you?"

Noct blinked. "Well, sure. He's all... soft. And he's even worse than he used to be about not letting me do anything dangerous. It's like those first few weeks outside the Wall all over again."

"Huh," Prompto said, taking that in. "I mean, I guess you're right. I think he's smiled more in the last couple weeks than he did in the last ten years."

Prompto had said something like that on the first morning after they brought the dawn. Noct figured he was exaggerating, but the pictures... kinda backed him up. "Sounds like it was... pretty bad."

"Yeah," Prompto said, his voice a little weird. It sounded like a confession. "Ignis never let us believe you weren't coming back, not for a second, but. It was hard. My best buddy went away and the whole world fell apart." He took a breath, let it out. "And Ignis — kinda did the opposite. He pulled himself together so tight he couldn't even talk unless it was about you, and about fixing things, and planning and preparing. I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but I like to think he was my friend, too. And it sorta felt like I lost him at the same time."

Noct's throat felt tight. He wanted to be angry, and he was, but it was this far away thing, still locked away in the crystal. It wasn't fair. None of it was, but he'd always known that. He leaned over, bumped their shoulders together. "Sorry."

Prompto scoffed. "No way, dude, you don't get to apologize. You didn't have any choice in anything, and I don't want — no way do I want to make you feel bad for not being there because you were too busy trying to _save the world_. I just. Want you to know I'm glad you're back. We all are, even if Gladio's being a jerk about it and Ignis is weird and it sucks we can't just stick together like we used to."

Noct shrugged. "It's fine. I know you have stuff to do. I'm... kinda surprised Ignis doesn't have _more_ stuff to do, actually. Like, did he have a job?"

Prompto laughed a little. "Ohh yeah, full-time, 24/7, Preparing for the Return of the True King. No sick days, no vacation time."

"Sounds like a shitty job," Noct said.

"Don't get me wrong!" Prompto said. "I'm grateful as anything. I mean, it worked. You're here and the sun's up. Nobody else could have pulled this off. It just... hurt to watch him sometimes, and he could be pretty harsh on anybody who wanted a break. Every so often he and Gladio really went at it, and then he'd just — go off and do his own thing and we'd have no idea where he was or when he'd be back. And when he _did_ come back he just picked up where he left off, ordering us around."

Noct swallowed. Felt a little sick. "That sucks."

"Shyeah."

"He won't talk about it."

"Can't blame him," Prompto said, kicking his feet against the dock.

"Did he..." Noct started, and didn't know how to ask it. "You and Gladio both had... you know... people waiting for you." And Prompto still looked guilty about that, so he said, "Which is good. I'm glad — I'm _really_ glad you weren't alone." Especially if Ignis wasn't... taking care of everyone. "Did Ignis...?"

Prompto grimaced, running a hand through his hair. "I don't — I don't think so. I mean, like I said, sometimes he took off. But there were guys — and girls! — lined up to ask him out, and he just. Didn't go there. Gladio really gave him hell about it." That was easy to imagine. "But yeah. He just kept saying he didn't have time."

God damn it, Ignis. "Right," Noct said, swallowing that, wishing there wasn't a part of him that felt good about it. It didn't mean he wanted Ignis to be lonely and miserable. It just... would have sucked if he came back and everybody'd moved on. 

"And, um." Prompto looked around, scared, like he used to when he was talking Noct into something really dumb and didn't want Ignis to hear. "Don't _ever_ tell _either_ of them I told you this, but. I think —" He lowered his voice even more so he was barely moving his mouth, like he thought maybe Ignis was spying on them and knew how to lip-read. "I think maybe Gladio tried to, um, ask Ignis out. Like. I don't mean to, uh, the movies, if you know what I —"

Noct had to cut him off. "Yeah, I get it." Okay. That was. ...Yeah. He stared down at the water and tried not to picture it — any of it — and couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or be sick.

"So that went over about as well as you'd think. I think. I mean, assuming you think it would go over really really not well."

Noct snorted. "Yeah." And that was definitely a relief, too, but one he didn't feel so bad about.

"Pleeease don't tell them I told you that," Prompto said again.

"I won't," Noct laughed. Gladio would murder Prompto, and Ignis would probably just straight-up die. "Uh, thanks for telling me. I guess."

Prompto snorted, a little hysterical. "I had to get it out, dude. You have no idea how bad I want to throw that in Gladio's face every time he gives me shit about Cindy."

Noct laughed. 

"So Ignis has been okay?" Prompto asked. Noct nodded. "He hasn't held a dagger to your throat? Or anyone else's?"

"No, but we haven't gone grocery shopping yet. Or tried to sell our rusty bits."

Prompto laughed, loud and easy, bumping their shoulders together, and went back to looking out at the water. After a minute he said, "So, like, are you actually gonna catch anything here, dude? Is there even a hook on that line?"

"Nah," Noct told him. "Just trying to look busy."

\- - - 

Noct and Prompto took the tent down and packed up the car, then sat back making commentary while Ignis completely reorganized the trunk. They stopped at Hammerhead to drop Prompto off, and he managed to talk Cindy into taking a lunch break with them at Takka's. She and Prompto had a few really good stories about customers.

Ignis laughed so hard he had to take his glasses off to wipe at his eyes.

"Well I'll be," Cindy said, watching him. "Thought you lost your laugh out in the wild somewhere, like maybe an Imp stole it off you. Guess Paw-Paw was right."

"Oh?" Noct asked. Ignis took some time putting his glasses back on, pretending he couldn't get them to sit right. "What did Cid say about it?"

"Nothin' I can repeat in polite company," Cindy said, smiling brilliantly.

Prompto left again, heading into the garage with Cindy, promising he'd be back in no time and that he'd drag Gladio along even if he had to leave a trail of cup noodles.

Ignis picked up a few things at the shop, loaded them into the car, and then stood, resting a hand on the roof and looking over it at Noct. "Well, what next?"

Noct took a breath and looked around them, at the cracked asphalt and the sun beating down on the dust, the roads leading out and everywhere. Lestallum was probably a good place to start, if they wanted to recruit people for the cleanup in Insomnia. But it was a long way away, and if the others were right it was crowded as hell. Just thinking about it was exhausting.

A week or two ago, they'd fought their way through their old home, blew up the crystal and made the sun rise. Before that, he'd spent ten years in the crystal, and before _that_ , he'd had the worst few weeks of his life. "How about a vacation?" he said.

Ignis had gone soft again, watching him. Now he blinked, gears turning. "Certainly. What do you have in mind?"

Good question. "My dad's boat is parked at Galdin Quay," he said. "Maybe we should check on it."

Ignis barely arched an eyebrow. "And go fishing," he finished.

"Well. If you insist," Noct grinned at him. 

Ignis's smile broke his face open. "All aboard, then," he said, climbing into the car.

Noct got in and got comfortable while Ignis pulled out onto the road. He found himself watching Ignis, trying to see what Prompto was talking about, the guy he'd caught in those photos. 

When Noct first walked into the diner and saw them waiting for him, saw the scars on Ignis's face, his eyes, he'd nearly thrown up, thinking the dreams were true. That Ignis was blind. Couldn't cook, or drive, or look at him anymore. And then Ignis had smiled at him, and he knew. They were okay.

"Did you enjoy the meal?" Ignis asked, changing gears.

Not blinked. "Yeah. Always liked that sandwich. Didn't recognize half the stuff on the menu."

"Takka has certainly diversified," Ignis commented. "Quite impressive, considering the scarcity of supplies, but the steady stream of hunters passing through gave him access to a wide variety of game meat."

Noct took that in. "And I'm guessing you gave him some advice."

Ignis glanced at him, mouth quirking up. "Merely a few gentle suggestions."

"Right," Noct said. "Gentle."

Ignis settled back in his seat, satisfied, one arm on the frame of the car and the other on the wheel. It was impossible to look at him and see what Prompto had seen. Hard to even remember the awful stuff he'd dreamt in the crystal. 

Ignis glanced over at him a few times, and finally asked, "Everything alright?"

"Yeah," Noct said. "Just... happy to be here."

Ignis swallowed, gave a sharp nod, and tapped the button to take down the roof. The wind rushed in, bringing warm air and dust with it, and Noct looked out to see the rocks rushing by. Dualhorns taking shelter in the shade, and Mesmenirs chasing each other over the hills.

Noct nodded off.

—

He woke up when the car slowed to a stop in front of the Three Z's at Longwythe. 

"Simply a rest stop," Ignis murmured, getting out. "Do you need anything?"

Noct sat up, stretching. "I'll go with you." 

Ignis looked pleased, straightening up and glancing around. "Hm, look at that. They're already reclaiming the Crow's Nest." 

Noct looked. The building was crumbling, there was a puddle of something brown and gross by the entrance, and Kenny had lost his head. Too bad Prompto wasn't around; he would have loved the photo op. "Don't think I want a mouthful of happiness if it comes from there," Noct said.

Ignis laughed. "It would appear that Kenny bit off more than he could chew."

Noct grinned, and finally realized that the scatter of people hanging out in the parking lot — half of them pale and dazed, the other half red from the sun — were staring at them. No, at the car. Ignis calmly put the roof back up, locking the doors, and led him through the three fences into the motel.

The lobby had some vendors set up and a crowd of people chattering. 

_Ain't seen a daemon in days. I'm tellin' you, this ain't right_.

_Our prayers have been answered!_

_How much for the horns?_

_Did ya see that fancy automobile?_

"Probably best to stock up on supplies," Ignis said. "I've a feeling this fishing trip may stretch on for some time."

"Sounds good to me," Noct said, taking a look around. The selection was sad and the prices were unreal. Good thing he'd left his rod and tackle in the armiger.

When Ignis stepped up to pay for his stuff, the vendor looked spooked. "Where have you come from, fella?" she asked. "Ain't seen a new face 'round these parts in ages."

"Just from Hammerhead," Ignis said, his voice soothing. "Do you accept Voretooth bristles? I'll throw in some hard whiskers if you'll let us draw from the well."

The vendor grudgingly took the stuff. "Any news? Can you share any word about what's happened?"

"I can share this," Ignis said, loading the stuff into a bag. "The True King has returned, and it's he who brought the dawn."

Noct managed not to groan, ducking his head and trying to hide his face. 

The vendor cracked up laughing. "You're tellin' me you believe in that old fairy tale?"

"You can send word to Hammerhead," Ignis said stiffly. "They'll tell you the same thing."

"Hammerhead?" The woman demanded. "There's no way to make it there before nightfall!"

Ignis looked at her and shrugged. Took his stuff and headed back out, with Noct trailing after him. 

He was loading it into the car when someone else approached them, sauntering across the cracked asphalt and letting out a low whistle. A big guy, bristling with blades, his face torn up by an ugly scar. "By the stars, Scientia, who'd you kill to get your hands on this beauty?"

Ignis sighed, shut his eyes and shut the trunk. "Afternoon, Gideon." He turned around, one hand on his hip and the other ready to grab a dagger. "Mind you don't touch. I'd rather not get any filth on the finish."

The guy — Gideon, apparently — let out an incredulous hoot of laughter. "Well, la dee dah, ain't we prim and proper all of a sudden." He stepped in, threatening, but Ignis didn't give an inch. "You fucked me over, you son of a bitch. We had a _deal._ "

"Indeed we did," Ignis said, "until you changed the terms."

" _I_ changed the terms?" Gideon demanded, voice rising. Noct reached for a sword but Ignis gestured a _no_ without looking at him. "Do you have any idea what I went through to get that book?"

"I think I can guess," Ignis said, casually tapping a finger on his own lip, right about where Gideon's was torn up. "For what it's worth, I must say it's an improvement."

Noct stared. Was so busy staring at Ignis that he missed the moment Gideon pulled a knife. But he had a good view of Ignis grabbing the guy's wrist, wrenching it, twisting his arm back and forcing him to one knee. Gideon howled, and had time to pull another knife before Noct knocked it out of his hand and slammed him to the ground, put a boot to his throat. _"Back off."_

"Noct," Ignis said sharply.

Gideon stared up at him. "Who the hell are you?"

"A friend," Noct answered. "What the hell is going on, Ignis?"

Ignis pushed his glasses up, himself again. "Merely a misunderstanding."

"Give it _back_ ," Gideon spat.

"The codex?" Ignis asked, looking down at him. "To what purpose? The number of people left alive who're capable of reading it can be counted on one hand."

"Then pay up, you slick sack of shit!" 

"Hey," Noct warned him.

Ignis crouched down, abruptly, to look Gideon in the eye. "I saw your handiwork at Tallhends, Lieutenant," he said, so soft Noct could barely make it out. "Consider yourself lucky that all I took was the codex. Cross me again, and you'll have the Hunters on your heels for the rest of your days."

And with that, Ignis stood, pulling at his gloves. "Thank you, Noct. I believe our business here is concluded."

"Uhh," Noct said. Ignis gestured for him to get in the car, so he backed off, carefully.

Gideon stayed on the ground, glaring, his face gone pale.

"Okay," Noct said, and got in the car. 

Once he was in, Ignis climbed into the driver's seat, hit the ignition, checked that Noct's arms and legs were inside the car, and threw it into gear. "Off we go," he said cheerfully, and they pulled away. 

Noct watched the rearview mirror, his heart beating, fingers itching for his sword. Gideon eventually got up and limped towards the motel right before they took a turn and lost sight of him.

Ignis didn't say anything, for a long time, and Noct didn't know where to start. He'd finally opened his mouth to ask when Ignis said, "That was unfortunate. We didn't get to draw from the well."

"Uhh, yeah," Noct said.

Ignis was looking out at the road, checking the rearview mirror more often than he probably needed to. "And I had hoped to spend the night in a bed," he murmured.

"If you don't want to camp, we can sleep on the boat."

Ignis made a small, pleased sound, happy with that. 

"Are you gonna tell me what that was about?" Noct demanded.

Ignis shifted in his seat, clearing his throat. "A rather unsavoury character I was forced to do business with a few years ago. I hired him to obtain a rare text that I had hoped would prove useful in dispelling the Starscourge. His mission went... poorly, or so it would seem, and in consequence he demanded a king's ransom."

"So you stole it," Noct finished.

Ignis adjust his glasses. "I paid the agreed-upon amount, and no more."

Okay. "And what was that you were saying about... Tallhends? That's a fort in Cleigne, isn't it?"

"Indeed it was. Now it's a settlement. The walls and lights were put to good use keeping the daemons at bay, and the Empire's generators and equipment proved quite valuable."

"What does that have to do with him?"

Ignis looked uncomfortable. "There were soldiers left behind in the garrisons, as well, and they became _personae non gratae_ in the days following the collapse of the Empire. Gideon was one of them - under a previous name, of course - and is wanted for certain crimes committed at Tallhends."

Noct opened his mouth to ask if Ignis knew that before he hired him. Then decided he didn't want to hear it. 

"My apologies," Ignis said, low and serious. "That was... unseemly."

"Not the word I'd use," Noct said, trying not to sound upset. Ignis glanced at him. "More like... scary?"

"No more than a common thug, Your Majesty. Unfortunately, such sorts tend to thrive in the darkness."

"Not talking about him," Noct said, looking out the window. 

Ignis didn't answer.

So that's what Prompto was talking about. It wasn't... totally out of the blue. Noct had seen Ignis get scary a handful of times when they were dealing the Empire, but that was usually... protective scary. A little bloodthirsty, sure. Not... like that.

Ten years he'd been gone.

When Ignis spoke again his voice was small but steady. "Would you like to change course?"

Noct blinked over at him. "What? No, of course not."

Ignis's shoulders barely loosened up. "I'm sorry the others can't join us."

"Yeah," Noct said. "Think they might go a little stir-crazy out on the water, though. Nothing for Gladio to fight, and Prompto..." He trailed off.

"In _deed_ ," Ignis agreed.

"You should have seen him on the flight to Gralea," Noct said. "I thought Ravus was seriously gonna kill him."

"I can imagine," Ignis said dryly.

 _I don't think you can_ , Noct wanted to say. None of them believed for a second that Ignis had gone willingly, no matter what Ravus said, and when he offered them a ride not even Gladio tried to argue. Noct thought they'd all bite each others heads off, and that was only a few hours. A few long, dark hours of pacing and trying not to be sick, feeling like Luna's blood was on his hands and he'd never get it off, desperately wanting to curl up and cry in his dad's arms or on Ignis's shoulder.

And the awful hours finding his way through the maze of the Keep, trying to work with Gladio and look out for Prompto, all the while silently praying to Luna, to the crystal, to the Astrals, to anyone who'd listen: _please please please let Ignis be okay. I'll give anything._

"Still," Ignis said, and Noct was here, awake. Sitting in his dad's car, driving through Saulhend Pass on the way to Galdin, the sky turning a warm evening orange. Ignis was okay. More or less. "I'm sure the company would be welcome."

"I like this company just fine," Noct told him, settling in. Ignis was easy to be alone with. Especially now, after everything, it was good to get away from the guys once in awhile without having to be alone. 

Ignis cleared his throat and kept driving.

They made it through the pass, eventually, and the road opened up, winding its way down to the Quay. The resort was deserted and destroyed, but his dad's boat was still there, tied up to the dock.

Ignis glanced over at Noct, checking that he was awake. "You say the royal vessel is still in good trim?"

Noct rubbed at his neck, sitting up. "Yeah. Don't ask me how. But I drove it here from Angelgard without hitting anything."

Ignis tried to muffle a laugh. "It... is equipped with life jackets, yes?"

Noct punched him on the arm, hard enough Ignis swerved a little. "Now who needs driving lessons?"

Ignis laughed, hard, and the two of them headed for the shore.


End file.
